Boulder police shoot, kill knife-wielding suspect at Wimbledon condos

Officer, a 14-year veteran, placed on leave

By Amy Bounds and Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writers

Posted:
11/24/2013 03:32:15 PM MST

A Boulder police officer responding to a report of a machete-wielding man making threatening remarks at the Wimbledon Condominiums on Sunday afternoon shot and killed a suspect who officials say was armed with two knives.

Authorities have not yet released the identity of the victim.

The officer, a 14-year veteran of the department who also has not been publicly identified, has been placed on paid leave. He was not injured in the incident, which is the first officer-involved shooting in Boulder in five years.

Police responded to a call at 12:30 p.m. from a neighbor at the condos, 3009 Madison St., who reported that a man armed with a knife and machete was making threatening remarks and "stabbing a post" outside his apartment, Boulder city spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said.

When the suspect did not get down, the officer fired his rifle twice, according to police. The suspect was transported to Boulder Community Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Huntley said the officer was armed with a rifle because the initial call indicated that an incident was taking place outside and it wasn't clear how close officers would be able to get to the scene.

Four other officers were behind the responding officer when he shot the man, she said.

The condo where the shooting occurred is owned by a couple who live in Illinois, according to property records. When reached by phone later Sunday afternoon, they said their son lived in the condo, but they hadn't been notified of his death.

Their son has a criminal record in Colorado that includes an arrest this summer on charges of felony menacing and harassment. That case is set for trial in February.

He also pleaded guilty to a theft charge in 2011, a theft charge in 2009, a shoplifting charge in 2008, an assault charge in 2007 and a harassment charge in 2006, according to court records.

Huntley said police first were called to the residence earlier Sunday, around 7:15 a.m., by a relative of the suspect's girlfriend or former girlfriend. The relative was concerned about a potential domestic violence situation, she said.

The woman answered the door and talked to police, who determined a crime hadn't occurred and left.

The girlfriend was being interviewed by police Sunday, Huntley said.

Huntley added that police also were called to the residence this summer, but she didn't yet have information on the nature of that call.

The officer has been placed on administrative leave with pay, as is standard procedure, while the Boulder County "shoot team" investigates the fatal incident.

The shoot team is staffed by investigators from multiple Boulder County law enforcement agencies and "is responsible for conducting unbiased, objective investigations in cases when officers use deadly force or other incidents involving in-custody deaths," according to Boulder police.

The last officer-involved shooting in Boulder was in 2008, when a SWAT team member shot and killed a man who claimed he was wearing a bomb inside Boulder Community Hospital.

Boulder police officers look into the doorway at 3009 Madison where a man was shot and killed Sunday. A Boulder police officer, responding to a report of a knife-wielding suspect, shot the man, who was armed with two knives.
(
CLIFF GRASSMICK
)

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